Chapter 5 - Blood on the Dais
A single gunshot cracked through the ballroom like thunder, echoing off the high, gilded ceiling.
A high-pitched scream erupted from the crowd as guests threw themselves behind dining tables and grand pillars. Julian lunged instinctively toward Clara, shouting her name in desperation. But Clara was already pulled backward by a firm, unyielding arm.
Christian Sterling had closed the distance in a heartbeat, dragging Clara behind the solid cover of a fluted marble pillar just as Richard's bullet shattered the stone where her head had been moments earlier. White marble dust exploded into the air, raining down upon Clara's bare shoulders and burning against the open scratches.
"Secure the perimeter! Take him down!" Christian shouted to his men.
The syndicate operatives moved with surgical precision. Two swift shots echoed through the room. Richard let out a guttural roar of pain as a round took him in the shoulder, sending his ceramic firearm skittering across the slick floor. The second shot took out the central chandelier control box on the wall, sending a shower of bright electrical sparks tumbling down onto the centerpiece banquet table.
"Julian! Get down!" Eleanor shrieked, crawling across the floor toward her son.
Julian, however, looked completely broken. He stared at his uncle, who was pinned roughly to the ground by two tactical operatives, groaning as blood soaked through his velvet jacket. Julian's gaze then flicked to his mother, whose face was not marked by grief or fear for Clara, but by the cold, calculating fury of an exposed criminal.
Christian glanced down at Clara, his thumb brushing a trace of stone dust from her bruised cheekbone. "Can you walk?" he asked softly, his tone surprisingly devoid of the mockery he showed the Vanderbilts.
"I can walk," Clara whispered through gritted teeth. "Take me to the vault. Before they destroy the hard drives."
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Christian nodded. But as they turned to move toward the private estate corridor, a faint, rhythmic ticking sound began vibrating beneath the very floorboards where Julian stood.
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